PASSENGER levels have improved by 20% over the year on Virgin Trains, including its Liverpool to London link.
The increase is due to higher frequencies on the route after the long- awaited completion last year of protracted weekend engineering work by maintenance group Network Rail.
Bus and rail group Stagecoach, which holds a 49% stake in the Virgin franchise, revealed the improvements in its annual figures yesterday and added that prospects for its UK rail division have improved in recent months, including its East Midlands operation connecting Liverpool and Norwich.
Stagecoach, which is the second largest bus operator in Merseyside, also said its bus division delivered a “robust” performance during the year to April 30, despite a 24% fall in annual group profits to £129.8m.
But chief executive Brian Souter said: “These are a good set of results and we have met the challenges of a difficult trading year.
“We are now in an excellent position to benefit from the increasing signs of economic recovery and capitalise on opportunities to grow our business.”
Revenues were slightly ahead at £2.16bn compared with £2.1bn in 2009.
